Spinstands are used for multiple purposes with respect to disk drives, including characterization, testing, and development of (read-write) heads and disk media, particularly magnetic heads and magnetic disk media.
In order to perform such operations, spinstands require accurate and precise positioning of a read or write head (e.g., via a head positioning mechanism) at various track offsets for the purposes of reading and writing to disk media. Additionally, spinstands typically utilize a mechanism for loading and unloading the read or write head onto and off disk media.
Usually, the read or write head is part of a magnetic head-gimbals assembly (HGA), which is loaded onto magnetic disk during testing and unloaded thereafter. Some mechanisms load and unload the HGA by providing flexion suspension of the HGA in horizontal position using a support lift tab that is coupled to the HGA. Other mechanisms load and unload the HGA using a pivot point fixture that moves the HGA on and off the disk medium surface. Such loading/unloading mechanisms support operations for a wide range of positioning on the disk medium surface.
Additional mechanisms may utilize a static ramp loading mechanism, which uses a constant loading-unloading point (i.e., loading zone) on the disk medium surface. However, after a certain number of iterations, the use of the static ramp loader can result in a damaged disk medium surface at the loading zone.